Just Hold Me
by pinkbow
Summary: "Logan?" Rory questions softly. "Yeah?" He mumbles, clearly on the verge of succumbing to sleep. "Will you marry me?" They've waited too long already, wasted too much time and she doesn't want to waste anymore.


_Hi!_

 _This one shot is part of a series I'm working on. I already published the first one although you don't have to read it for this one to make sense, but in my head they're all part of the same universe so I decided to group both and future works I plan on publishing together. Sadly ff.n*t doesn't allow me to create a series page like AO3 but alas. There are a few extra details on the page there, but all you need to know is that Rory and Logan have been together since she told him about her pregnancy post Fall._

 _This was also supposed to be a short drabble, but it kinda took a life of its own. Anyhow, I hope y'all enjoy!_

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"Logan?" Rory questions softly as her fingers slowly trace his collarbone, head resting on his shoulder while his arms are securely wrapped around her, keeping her close, their legs intertwined and her almost six month pregnant belly fitting perfectly against him, just as everything else always has.

"Yeah?" He mumbles, clearly on the verge of succumbing to sleep.

They've been lying outside looking at the sky. Winter is almost over, the bone chilling cold giving space to the warm spring air as flowers begin to bloom, nothing but a blanket and each other's body providing warmth after losing themselves in the other, clothes scattered on the balcony floor, the stars as their witnesses.

"Will you marry me?" Her voice is quiet, not wanting to break the little bubble they are in, but there's no trace of hesitation, no shakiness as she continues to caress his skin as she waits for his answer. She could be asking for cup of coffee with how easy the words flew out of her mouth.

In his sleepy state it takes a moment for his brain to process what her words mean, his breath hitching when he realizes exactly what she just asked him.

It's not that marriage is a topic they avoid. Not anymore. They've been doing really well in rebuilding their communication and vocalizing their feelings and thoughts regarding their relationship, but whenever marriage came up, it was about the proposal she declined and its aftermath or the engagement he called off, the wedding plans he cancelled and how he ever let it get to that point.

Anything regarding a possible future wedding, one between the two of them, was never discussed.

He enjoys what they have right now and though he wouldn't mind making it legal, he feels they've reached a point where it'd be nothing but signing a piece of paper. They've already committed themselves to each other in the most significant of ways and are about to expand their family. They're building a life and that's all he's wished for since he was 24 and realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

It's not that he hasn't thought about proposing again, because he has. It's always in the back of his mind just as his eyes are drawn to rings whenever he passes a jewellery store – sometimes going as far as walking inside to have a closer look, but he never got the feeling she was thinking about it as more than a _someday_ kind of way and, despite how committed they are, somewhere very deep inside of him, part of that 25 year old who got rejected was still waiting for a bigger sign from her. He just didn't think she'd beat him to it and propose herself.

"Logan… Are you awake? Did you hear me?"

He's pulled out of his thoughts by Rory, voice still soft but with a hint of doubt creeping in. He knows her enough to know from her tone it's about whether he heard her and not because she's regretting asking him to marry her.

Rory Gilmore wants to _marry_ him. After almost a decade from his proposal she's not only on the same page as him, but is taking the initiative.

"Yeah, I heard you, Ace." He replies with a breathy chuckle as he sits up, bringing her with him so he can look at her face properly. "I'm just…"

"Speechless? Processing?" She finishes for him as words escape his brain. Her eyes are shining, the blue so bright against her pale skin and messy dark hair, the curves of her breasts visible as the blanket slid down due to their change in position, curving around her pregnant stomach where their baby is growing and Logan is sure there's no sign in this world that can come close to beauty he's looking at right now.

"Yeah." He replies for the third time. She really threw him, not even finding out she was pregnant left him like this.

"I made the great Logan Huntzberger speechless. I can cross that off my bucket list." She replies cheekily as she adjusts the blanket, covering herself up to the top of her breasts and holding it together underneath her arms as she waits for him to gather his wits again, hands rubbing her ever expanding stomach – something she's started doing more and more, especially when her nerves start getting to her.

He shakes his head, as if that'd clear his foggy mind, while one of his hands makes its way to her cheek, caressing it lightly, the other resting on top of hers on her stomach and halting her movements. "You know you've made me speechless plenty of other times, Ace. In a variety of ways too."

"Logan!"

He can feel her skin get warmer underneath his hand just as it takes a rosy shade. It doesn't matter how many years pass, Rory never fails to blush at the most innocent of innuendos and it always makes him smile. "Rory…"

The use of her name, as usual, has the desired effect of letting her know he's about to be completely serious with her. She opens her eyes to stare at his – between his caresses and her slightly embarrassment they'd fallen closed without her noticing.

"Are you sure or is this you being caught up in the moment?" He questions, no hint of ill feelings on his voice, just curiosity at the same time his hand makes its way to her shoulder then all the way down her arm to join their hands on top of her belly, fingers intertwining.

She doesn't get offended nor does she resent him for questioning her proposal. She can admit it came out of left field. She made lists, she orchestrated a plan on how this was going to go, but tonight, just lying there with him in their home, the noise of the city muffled by how high they are and how late it is, it almost felt perfect – the only thing missing were the rings on their fingers and somehow she knew she should simply do it. Now. No more waiting. They've waited too long already, wasted too much time and she doesn't want to waste anymore.

"I know we haven't really discussed a timeline or even anything outside of someday, but I'm sure. I am _so sure_ that I just completely ignored all the lists I spent weeks working on and the plans I was halfway through setting up. I was going to do it right, you know?! I'd planned on broaching the subject beforehand and then giving you one big gesture out of the many you've given me throughout the years, but we were laying here and you were holding me and I could think of nothing else but how much I love you and want to be able to say you're mine against any and all arguments. These past few months have been the happiest I've had in years, and despite the few bumps we've had with our families, I'm so unbelievably happy, Logan. I still feel like it's all too good to be true sometimes, it's like all the puzzle pieces are coming together but regardless of how happy I am, I can't stop thinking about marrying you. I know it's mostly a formality at this point, but I want it so very much. I don't want to have different last names from our kids or you or have to hire lawyers to make sure you have the same rights as me because we're not married. I want to wake up next to you as my husband. I want to wear your ring and for you to wear mine and it may sound 50s housewife, which I'm not nor do I ever plan on being, but I want all the cliché married things from the rings to the monogramed towels to the anniversary celebrations. It doesn't make me less independent to want all of that. I know that now. I'm still me, I'll always be me but I want to be me _with you._ I don't want to wait another eighteen years for something I've known is right for a very long time. I love you so much, Logan. And I've – we've - wasted so much time because I was afraid of admitting to myself and you what I wanted and I don't want to do that anymore. I just want you. Forever. Or for as long as we have left. I hope you want it – me - too. I think you do, but do you? I mean, will you marry me?"

She feels a little breathless, even for a Gilmore that was a pretty long ramble and being pregnant hasn't exactly agreed with her fast paced speaking habit.

It's silent. Nothing but their breathing, even the faint city noises seem to have faded away. It stretches for less than ten seconds but Rory feels like it's been ten years – and maybe in some ways it has. Her heart is beating so fast inside her chest she feels it may explode. Her mouth is dry but before she can open it to say something else – she isn't sure what yet – before she can even blink, she feels Logan's lips descend on hers as his hands frame her face and whatever nervousness had threatened to overwhelm her gives place to complete and utter bliss.

It's slow but passionate and as his tongue makes its way inside her mouth and starts a familiar dance with hers, it feels as much more than a kiss. It's a promise, the last one they had left to make, of still unwritten words and unspoken thoughts that somehow makes sense to only them because the dance they're doing isn't purely physical. It's like exchanging that last remaining piece of them neither felt secure enough to entrust the other, as if their souls are connecting on a deeper level, merging into one. It lasts until both are breathless but it doesn't feel long enough. It's never long enough, but they both know they have all the time in the world as they rest their foreheads together while trying to catch their breaths.

"You jump, I jump, Jack!" Logan says with a face splitting grin, vision slightly hazy from the tears he can feel welling up in his eyes. He's sure he'll never forget anything about this moment; from how he feels to how shiny Rory's eyes are – from happiness and tears both – to how bright her smile is and how absolutely elated she looks as he uses the same words that officially interlaced their fates. "There's nothing I've wanted more or for as long as I've wanted to marry you. To have a family with you. To _be_ your family. I love you more than I've ever imagined I could love anyone. I've loved you for so long I can't remember what it is like not to, nor do I want to. You were in every dream I ever allowed myself to dream. I'll marry you anytime, anywhere and I promise you and our family, our children, will always be the most important thing to me. I'm getting you a ring tomorrow, I promise. The most beautiful ring in the entire city will be on your finger before the day is over. And I'll buy you a thousand monogrammed towels. I'll monogram the dishes if you want to. Whatever you want, just say so and it's a done deal."

She's smiling and crying and laughing all together but so is him and in that moment their baby decides to join in and start kicking.

"Thank you. For telling me about our little bean and believing I'd be a better person, a better _father_ than the ones we had when you had no reason to. I know you could've done it alone, but I'll never not be thankful that you wanted me here. That you want me to always be here."

"There's no one else I'd do this with. It's always been you. It'll always be you. And I had every reason to. I know you, Logan, and there's not been a moment where I needed you or came to you that you turned your back on me. You've always been here for me and I knew you'd never turn your back on our child. You're already the best dad and this baby and any others we have are very fortunate to have you. As am I."

"I love you so much, Ace. You've always been my one too. And it's we, not you."

"Huh?"

"It's we because I already have the best partner, our children will have the best mother too and you also said we've wasted time because _you_ were scared of admitting what you wanted, but so was I. I was terrified."

"We're both dumb." She says playfully just as she did all those years ago after researching the true story of Hemmingway's missing manuscript.

"I guess we found each other, huh?!" He replies, kissing her forehead lightly.

"Guess we did."

They stay lying there for a little while longer, smiling and holding each other for dear life, going over how everything's changed but at the same it's still the same, their baby kicking up a storm.

"Logan?" Rory questions softly.

"Haven't we just done this, Ace?" He replies amusedly.

"Shush you." She says at the same time she gives his shoulder a playful slap. "I'm hungry. Starving. Your child is demanding sustenance."

"I really love how little bean is _my_ child whenever _you_ want something. It's especially amusing when it's food considering you're the Gilmore here and if it's on one of us how hungry you always are, it's certainly not me."

"Hey, is that how you treat the mother of your child and soon to be wife?"

"You're gonna use both of those whenever you can, aren't you?" He questions with a happy grin plastered on his face. He can't stop smiling. Everything he's ever wanted is in his arms.

She looks up at him almost innocently, someone who doesn't know her as well as he does would certainly fall for the faked innocence in those Bambi eyes, as she answers. "Unless you've changed your mi-"

He doesn't let her finish before he's claiming her lips with his for a hard, quick kiss. "Not a chance. You're stuck with me now. Forever. No take backs, Ace."

"Then you better go get me some food before I decide to call my backup fiancé Hogan to feed me and attend to my needs. I _did_ just get engaged after all."

"Tell Hogan he's out of business, sweetie. Permanently. But yes, your wish is my command… so what is it you desire, oh love of my life, mother of my child and soon to be wife?"

She's grinning at him, eyes shining as she replies with "Avocados."

He's not even surprised since that's her most consistent craving, but tonight it feels even more special and as he looks at her, he knows she thinks so too.

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 _Thanks for reading and any feedback is greatly appreciated since it makes my day. I also apologize for the mistakes. (:_


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